PayComplete (SuzzoHapp, Formally Coinco) UPT Card Reader keep rebooting, but older card reader does not.

[GreekWiz]

Good Morning,

Apologies for the long post.

I have searched this forum (and online) with no luck, and now I am desperate from some help, I have been struggling with this for months. I am not getting any support from the company I bought the card reader, because they did not sell me the vending machine.

I purchased a PayComplete (SuzzoHapp) UPT Card Reader UPT Card Reader - PayComplete and it works fine in my vending machine until it does not.

For some strange reason, when I first got it installed, it would reboot about once a day. Unfortunately to get the card reader working again, I would have to re-enable it from the menu as it would not re-enable itself. Powering down and repowering the vending machine will also not reenable this card reader, I had to open the door, press the menu button, and back out of the meu and it will re-enable itself.

I put up with this as I work in the same building this machine is located, so it was easy for me to just reset it in the morning, and it lasted all day. Not ideal or perfect, but it was what it was.

Then an OTA Update came and the firmware went from 18.xx to 23.xx on the card reader, and now this thing might last a day or reboot itself after an hour of re-enabling it. Did the FW cause issues, could be coincidence.

I have set up a remote camera, and I see the card reader just rebooting on its own, no one near the machine, and the vending machine not losing power. No set time of the day, but many times between the time I reset it (08:00am) to 10:10AM, then it might last until 14:00 or reset of the day. Nothing is giving me clues why this is happening. I should add I am using a full-size UPC on the vending machine to eliminate a power delivery issue from the outlet.

I have thought the following could be the causes, but figured I would post here first to see what people though.

1) Card reader getting too hot and rebooting? (Sometime the reader is warm on top due to the display, but not hot, I thought about putting a fan near it to cool it down, not sure if this would solve anything, I doubt it)
2) Logic board getting hot? (I doubt this is the issue, but who knows)
3) Newer card reader is sucking more power than the older one (I am not sure this is the issue, but only thing I can think of, because read below, does not happen on an older card reader).
4) Faulty card reader (but was new and showed this right from the start)

So here is where it gets interesting, I borrowed an older Coinco5A3 card reader (Part number 410801) to test which works perfectly.

It never reboots, is always enabled, and if I power down the vending machine and power it back up (testing a power outage), it will re-enable itself on its own and how it should be. Exactly what I want and how it should be.

Here is another wrinkle. First off, I bought the newer machine (brand new, from a trusted authorized dealer) and it's nice and I would like to use it, but more importantly, while I am willing to buy this older card reader and just hold on to the newer one in case I get another machine, the Coinco5A3 is 3G. The PayComplete is 4G. I am in Canada, and we still have 3G until Dec 31, 2025, after that this will be useless (as you guys in the USA are aware)

I should add, when installing these card readers to test/use, I am using different cables, (the ones that came with each reader, but they look identical) but ensuring it's plugged into the MDB port securely on each reader. I also used a different antenna.

Basically, I just put the older Coinco inside the machine for testing purposes with no access to it from the outside (as the account is not in my name). I did it like this to test for 2 weeks, as I did not want to take apart the newer card reader installation, and again the Coinco is not in my name for transactions.

While I hate buying an older Coinco card reader for only 2 years, I might not have an option here, unless someone here has had a similar issue and maybe have some suggestions?

Thoughts?

Thank you for your time in reading all this, applogies again.

[Gizmo Vending]

Easiest thing to do is take it back to your retailer and swap it for another one.   

[AZVendor]

You bought a crappy one from Suzo Happ which handles tons of imported stuff.  Hence the name Suzo which is from Japan and Happ which was a decent US distributor until Suzo bought them.

[AngryChris]

One thing I'd like to know is what model this machine is.  

[Southeast Treats]

Have you thought about using a Cantaloupe unit?  If you are going to buy something, buy something that is not scheduled to be obsolete soon....